


Dungeons, Duelling Clubs and Dedicated Friends

by KarmaRTProblem



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Anxiety, BAMF Katsuki Yuuri, Duelling Club (Harry Potter), Fluff, Friendship, Harry Potter AU, Hogwarts AU, It won't become Mature or Explicit though, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining, Pining Katsuki Yuuri, Pining Victor Nikiforov, Rating May Change, Social Anxiety, Tags May Change, Victor Nikiforov is Extra, What else is new?, Yuuri and Phichit are fucking great friends and I will die on this hill, also how do you tag, no beta we die., this is my first fic be nice
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-06
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-12 02:47:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29877924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KarmaRTProblem/pseuds/KarmaRTProblem
Summary: Yuuri's true passion is Duelling. After admiring Viktor Nikiforov's ability since First Year, he is more than gone for the magical art. However, even with Phichit's attempts to lure him into the Duelling Club's ranks he's adamant about his lack of a talent for it.On top of that, Yuuri is pure anxiety in human form, and over his six years at Hogwarts his outlet has become exploring beneath the school and other abandoned parts of the elaborate castle.It's surely a recipe for success.
Relationships: Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov, Phichit Chulanont & Katsuki Yuuri
Comments: 4
Kudos: 16





	Dungeons, Duelling Clubs and Dedicated Friends

**Author's Note:**

> IT’s time to d-d-d-d-duel. lol.
> 
> I'm not the perfect writer and I have no beta, so don't expect a masterpiece, but I am more than happy to receive constructive criticism and I know my sentences can get clunky so please point them out to me. I am a perfectionist to an agonising degree and will go over stuff if it irks me, so I'm open to editing stuff.
> 
> Anyway enjoy

Yuuri had a habit of wandering off. If put more simply, hiding.

Could he be blamed? Hogwarts was the swiss cheese of nooks and crannies. Not to mention how the castle seemed to have a mind of its own, if not a sprawling history which beheld a fair few remains from those times long past.

The web of hallways and their windows poured in thick and golden goopy sunlight. And in the night, they framed the splattering of stars on the blanket of blue-black sky, wrapped around the earth. The archways cradled cold and unmoved darkness, but the grand rooms had life piled into them.

And could Yuuri be blamed for his sorrowful attempts at escaping his anxiety? Not really, even more so because alluding his judgemental brain was an impossible endeavour, like separating gum from your hair without a pair of scissors.

His anxiety also had a habit of drop-kicking him at the most inopportune times. Often. So, his solution? Flee into the bottomless depths of Hogwarts. As a bonus, Yuuri had found out he very much adored the cycling rooms and tunnels, walking through long forgotten studies or dungeons. Bearing witness to the spanning history of the castle in corners which had been grown over by the endless marching on of time.

However, akin to any other type of exploring, there were… obstacles. Yuuri did not consider these obstacles to be as horrifically disarming, as he was sure other forms of roadblocks were more difficult to handle. He often imagined how easily any other witch or wizard could overcome such problems though, he certainly did not like dwelling on it, however his anxiety left him no choice in the matter. The occasional deadly trap or bloodthirsty monster was definitely destined to be an eternal bummer in every way, and while Yuuri was accepting of this, it didn’t mean they were any kinder to him.

In his time at Hogwarts, Yuuri also befriended Phichit, and where one went the other followed. This was bound to happen on one of Yuuri’s outings. And it did. And it was bound to happen that one of the putrid, sewage and burnt smelling bat creatures descended on them. And it did.

Yuuri had gagged at the smell and faltered in pulling out his wand. Phichit screeched, he was sure it was Phichit because his mouth moved with the sound, but if he hadn’t seen it, he would’ve been sure it was the amalgamated bat’s shrill scream. When he did have his wand at the ready, Yuuri threw spell after spell at the thing, black, leathery, alarmingly fluffy, and a mass of sharp tooth and claw. He frantically cast spells from class and spells he had read in the textbook Mari had lent him. They landed with varying success. His only indication it was working was the faltering flapping of the void-coloured beast and the smell of sulphur in the air.

It swooped down at Yuuri, and its claws connected with the tangles in Yuuri’s dishevelled hair. He had shoved his hands through them that morning, curled over his potion’s essay and frantically scratching out words with his quill, straining to fill the word count. Incidentally, that was also why he hadn’t had time to brush his hair. Adding the bat to the equation, it was turning out to be an incredibly stressful day.

The tar shaded monster dragged him forward, stumbling over the patchworked stone tiling, uncared for in the lonely hallway. He was unable to spell properly, and his stomach was a red, hot balloon, rising to his heart, and then his throat. The thick smell of rotting garbage discarded on the street side flooded his nose. Then, he was driven into a harsh old column. It had not been undone by time and was certainly not undone by Yuuri slamming into it. Meaning it did not give despite how forcefully he met the hard material.

Clawing at his hair, and the talons clutching it, Yuuri dug his fingernails into the hard flesh housing the sharp claws latched onto him. He could only hope it held a candle to the feeling of how the clumps of his tangled hair were being tugged at mercilessly, until that region was purely pain, like a flame being held to your head, and the wrongness of your scalp rising with the strands. It wasn’t having nails pressing into your skin, as he did to the beast, but it was a desperate effort.

Yuuri slid his digging nails from the skin of his adversary, to the tender connection of its claws to its feet. It assaulted his ears with another nails-on-a-chalkboard shriek and released his hair. The sharp retreat almost knocked his wand out of his hands, which had been gripped onto even while he had batted and scraped at the offending talons.

With one hand on his pained head, and another clutching his only weapon, he raised it and called out the strongest spell he could recall from Mari’s textbook. He was especially glad he had learned such in moments like this, a ragged mess head to toe, his robes twisted at an unusual angle, facing a creature big and bad enough to be the monster under the bed at night. 

“ _Obliviate!_ ” he commanded.

The cutting sky-blue light from his wand shot out, a racehorse sprinting off to the finish line, hitting his foe squarely in what would have been the chest if it were a normal creature. 

It began floundering about in confusion, slapping into the wall once, twice, and twisting in the air. The frantic beating of its wings produced a hasty drumbeat which permeated the air.

Yuuri pounced on his chance and resumed the attack with two more well placed offensive spells he had learned from class. As the sulphuric scent fully absorbed the last of the reek of bat-nightmare-thing, it collapsed at Yuuri’s feet. Phichit stopped trying to merge with the cold and unyielding stone brick wall, and he shuffled over to Yuuri and toed their attacker’s limp body. It twitched and Phichit squealed again, flailing his arms around him.

“What was that!?” he cried.

“I-I don’t know specifically.” Yuuri said.

He spun to face Yuuri, “specifically!?” He paused. “You know something mister. Answer for my emotional damage!”

“Phichit! It just-” he searched for the right words, “happens sometimes?”

“That was! Like, a huge, giant, mega mean, bat mutation _thing_ you used _Obliviate_ on!”

Yuuri lightly shrugged, “they show up on the lower floors of Hogwarts, it’s definitely why the teachers don’t want us down here.”

“And you still go anyway!?” Phichit was looking at him as if he had gone insane.

“It’s calming.”

“Oh my _Merlin_ , Yuuri, you need help.” Phichit said, “Ok, new plan. Promise your great, amazing, hands-“

“Phichit,” interrupted Yuuri.

Phichit stared right into his eyes, daring Yuuri to stop him, “promise your great, amazing, handsome best friend Phichit to bring your phone down here, so he knows you’re not off somewhere dying tragically using spells well above high school level.”

“…Ok.”

* * *

Yuuri began taking his phone with him on his ventures after that day, and Phichit maintained that his friend was awesome for taking down monsters on a weekly basis. Sometimes, Phichit would join him, curious about the Hogwarts iceberg and what lay beneath the depths. His friend had affectionately named them ‘The Merry Band of Ghost-Monster-Busters.’ Yuuri refused to acknowledge the name.

At lunch, Phichit would try to push the name, and Yuuri would protest and list reasons it was so tacky. Most of them would include saying the name back to Phichit with a but or a really tacked onto the front. Then, Phichit would try to distract him with accusations of him ogling Viktor at the Slytherin table. Then he would deny it. And then they would both know he was lying because he would begin blushing profusely in the direction of a green decorated table. 

Yuuki and Takeshi had snuck over to join them at the Hufflepuff table that day and argued over the answers to their homework. What finally ended the argument was Phichit bragging about the Outstanding he got in Charms class, and the two stopped quarrelling to point out that he got that O three years ago in Third Year. 

Phichit had snatched Takeshi's precious Gryffindor scarf right from his shoulders and made off like a bandit in the night. Except he had grabbed Yuuri and forced him to be complicit in his crime. They got all the way to the stairwell with Takeshi in hot pursuit, Yuuki giggling close behind, and jumped on a shifting staircase to escape him.

Takeshi threatened to kidnap Phichit’s hamsters, which was the _worst_ thing you could do in this situation because Phichit did not take kindly to it, and dangled Takeshi's scarf over the side of the banister. The prized flame-red and proud-gold striped scarf hung limp over the cascading stairs and empty space below.

Takeshi screamed words that Yuuri would never dare to repeat, and Phichit cackled. He flung the scarf over the side and onto its owner’s head. While he was untangling the scarf ball he had been hit by, Phichit sped off and up the stairs to hide in the Hufflepuff dormitory, where no outraged Gryffindors could unleash their fury upon them. 

Now, Yuuri was sitting in the Duelling club to accompany Phichit. He and his partner were muttering shielding charms and demonstrating wand motions for each other. They painted twisted symbols in the air with the tips of their wands. 

The teacher, Celestino Cialdini, covered head to toe in Hufflepuff colours, drifted through all the pairs of students huddled together. He handed out advice as he went past, like the numerous chocolates he was so renowned for gifting to his classes, or his famous ‘ciao ciao’ at the beginning and end of every lesson. He had earned the nickname Ciao Ciao because of this. There were no points for creativity handed out that day. 

Mr. Cialdini approached Phichit and struck up a quick conversation with him. There was a suspicious amount of gesturing in his direction. The suspicious amount was once, and then all the hand waving afterwards hammered the nail further in. Their chat wrapped up as fast as it started, and as Mr. Cialdini began making his way towards Yuuri, Phichit shot Yuuri a suspiciously wide grin. That grin must have been the same one movie supervillains wished they had. It was also scarily close to the big smirk Mari would flash him when she would steal his phone.

“Are you thinking of joining the Duelling club this year, Yuuri?” Mr. Cialdini said. 

Yuuri wanted to run full force into the wall behind him. “N-no.”

Mr. Cialdini sighed, “I thought so, at least give it a bit more thought this year, though. I’ve been trying to convince you since Third Year.”

“I just won’t be as good at it. No one’s missing anything,” Yuuri said.

Mr. Cialdini shook his head. “Yuuri, you’re far from the worst duellist at this school. I’m convinced you could match Nikiforov if you tried.” He waited and said, “Phichit’s been telling me you’ve got a talent for quick spelling.”

_That traitor!_ “That was one time…” he tried.

“Hmm, at least think about it as something to fill your free time,” said Mr. Cialdini, “and it won’t hurt to get more house points. I’m convinced we can steal the house cup from Gryffindor this year.”

“I’ll think about it, Ciao Ciao.” He would absolutely not, and he refused to meet his teacher’s eyes.

This was all a part of Phichit’s elaborate scheme to get him to join the Duelling club. Phichit had been insistent before, but after discovering his adventures through Hogwarts he became a jack-in-the-box about it. Every conversation had a clumsy segway into Duelling and the Duelling club for three months straight. When he _had_ calmed down, thus began the planning. He had entered red-string-and-thumb-tacks mode. Yuuri wasn’t convinced into joining the club, but he was convinced that if he ever truly wanted to escape his friend and his whiles, his only option would be flying to the moon and destroying all forms of transport on his way. 

The most unfair- and ineffective -argument Phichit presented was that Viktor Nikiforov was a member of the Duelling Club. Yuuri had freaked out, and accidently turned Phichit’s robes purple during that class, and had made it clear how bad an idea he thought him and Viktor being in the same room was. It would end with a blue-screened Yuuri and most likely a mountain of drool. Also, a Viktor who would file a wizard restraining order, whatever that entailed.

Luckily, Viktor was not present now. Unluckily for Yuuri, Phichit evidently saw this as the perfect opportunity. It was written all over his face, the lopsided grin and the spark in his eyes. They always betrayed when Phichit was scheming. 

Phichit hopped over to Yuuri in the most conspicuous way possible while trying to be inconspicuous.

“Oh, Yuuri,” he sang.

“No. Please no,” said Yuuri.

Phichit clapped his hands together and blinked at him innocently, “the love of your life isn’t here right now, which means when the cats away the mice will play!”

“We’re not cats, and you’re not as cute as your hamsters.”

“Well, you need to stop feeding them under the table,” Phichit pouted.

“I can’t help it. They give me the same eyes as Vicchan,” he said.

“You’re not denying Viktor’s the love of your life though,” he raised a hand over his mouth and barely covered a toothy smile.

“Yea, the love of _my_ life, he definitely doesn’t think I’m his. He definitely doesn’t know I exist!” Yuuri asserted.

“Well, he’s not here.” He flapped his hand in the air, “and I’m going to Duel you now. Deal? Deal.”

Phichit skipped the rest of the distance to Yuuri, snatched his arm, and yanked him up from his chair by the wall. 

They caught the tail end of Mr. Cialdini’s instructions for the Duels, and joined the small cloud of students around the duelling strip. The teacher had announced Phichit and his partner were going second, blinked at Phichit furiously hugging Yuuri’s arm, and accepted that Yuuri was Phichit’s partner for the duel. He also said how proud he was that Yuuri was giving Duelling a try. Yuuri had stuttered out that it was a one-time thing, but Mr. Cialdini had moved on. Phichit’s partner seemed happy to demonstrate with the teacher instead, and then finish his homework at the back.

Phichit’s ex-duelling partner and Mr. Cialdini stood on the platform for the first duel. After all the formalities, when they threw their first spells Yuuri was reminded of the first creature he had fought off below the dungeons. 

The cold light he spelled promised doom for the monsters lurking in the dark, but the light blue colouring evoked visions of the sky. Him flying on his broom on weekends alone. That same baby blue leaking in through the windows of his dorm room, illuminating the fortunate corners of room, and the foot of his bed where Vicchan used to curl up. The sea bordering Hasetsu on early mornings, his first pair of glasses, and Viktor’s eyes when Yuuri had first spotted him in the Great Hall his First Year.

Yuuri was reminded of why he could derive so much comfort from such haunted halls under the school. Under the layers of escapism and solitude was the addition of duelling. Something for only him, and for who he choosed to share it with. Indulging what he was sure was a clumsy admiration for an art he would never even be passably good at. 

All those years ago, in his First Year at Hogwarts, terribly unsure of which way to go to class. Or which textbook he needed for which subject. Or what the difference was between two potions. Or the rules of Quidditch. Or the _wizarding world_. Mari’s information was his only interaction with magic before he turned eleven and attended Hogwarts for the first time. And then he had witnessed Viktor duelling in their one class together.

It was an art. At least, Viktor moulded it into an art under his hands. Watching the bursting spells whiz from one end of the class to the other, the sharp wand movements reminiscent of his ballet classes and keeping up with Minako’s rapid instructions, Yuuri discovered a part of the wizarding world which finally welcomed him. 

Yuuki had fanned the flames at lunch that fateful day, an avid Viktor Nikiforov fan, and provided him with plenty of posters and magazine clippings. Duelling was never as popular as Quidditch, but he had found out it had a similar following, including public tournaments Viktor Nikiforov had taken by storm. 

And here he was now, in his Sixth Year. Duelling was a distant dream, his passion for it was as large as a bonfire, but it could only manifest as an unshakeable admiration for his idol and fighting off beasts in the hidden halls of Hogwarts.

Above all else, he longed to face _Viktor Nikiforov_ in a duel. Once would be more than enough for Yuuri, to stand on the same stage as him instead of the crowd huddled at the drop of the duelling strip.

“We’re next!” Phichit cheered.

Yuuri startled and snapped his head to his friend.

Phichit pulled him up onto the platform and the only protest he could make was, “huh- _wa!_ ”

Now his opponent, Phichit held his wand up, bowed, and skipped down the soft, padded stage. He spun around, and then jerked his head to the side. Yuuri realised he was frozen in place and quickly mirrored Phichit’s motions.

Standing on the just used platform facing Phichit, Yuuri’s heart kicked up a fuss. However, he was already there, and Mr. Cialdini was already counting down.

“One,” their teacher said.

Yuuri tried to swallow but his mouth was too dry. Phichit bounced from side to side in anticipation. He sent a blinding smile Yuuri’s way, and it eased his heart somewhat.

“Two,” Mr. Cialdini continued.

His friend mouthed along to the number, and Yuuri guided his shaky hands into a starting position. Phichit did the same with a lot more grace and assurance than Yuuri had.

“Three! -”

“ _Rictusempra!_ ” Phichit shouted, flicking his wand with a practised snap of the wrist, sending a sweet pink bolt reaching for Yuuri. 

Yuuri countered, crying out “ _Protego!_ ” 

The candy bolt carrying a tickling charm shattered into sparks, scattering in the air away from Yuuri and onto the duelling strip. They crackled like a grill clicking to life, and with the speed of a student word vomiting their presentation, he immediately followed up with “ _Expelliarmus!_ ”

Phichit’s wand flew from his hands and he stumbled back, falling onto his behind.

A moment of silence.

“Yuuri wins!” Mr. Cialdini declared with an audible smile.

“O-oh no, I didn’t mean to make you fall over!” fretted Yuuri, running over to his friend.

Phichit swung his legs back, launched himself forward, and landed on his feet. “That was _awesome_ Yuuri! Now I _have_ to get you to join the Duelling club.”

A new, distinctly distraught voice joined in, calling, “he’s not in the Duelling club!?” 

The voice belonged to a silver-haired boy who had rushed in with extremely messy hair and dirt coating the sleeves of his robes. 

“I was wondering when you would arrive Viktor. You’re duelling sixth, come in,” Mr. Cialdini said.

**Author's Note:**

> *Big Time Rush theme starts playing*
> 
> AAAaaaa a a A AAAAA
> 
> Thanks for reading! :D
> 
> Time to crawl back into my little gremlin hole. Just me and my 50 tabs tonight. Steppy steppy.


End file.
